Local dancer heads to Marine Corps boot camp

Before heading out with her friends, Natalie Echevarria put on makeup, a pair of high heels and made a quick detour to the pull up bar on top of her doorframe.

LACEY MCLAUGHLINSTAFF WRITERnewsBOOT SNAPS

DAYTONA BEACH SHORES — Before heading out with her friends, Natalie Echevarria put on makeup, a pair of high heels and made a quick detour to the pull up bar on top of her doorframe. Two months ago, she couldn't lift her chin above the metal bar but now she can crank out four pull-ups. Echevarria hopes her improved strength will help her while she endures rigorous mental and physical tests during U.S. Marine Corps Basic Training, better known as boot camp, later this month. When the 19-year-old dancer leaves for Parris Island, S.C., on July 22, she will be trading her ballet shoes for military fatigues. Standing at 4 feet 11 inches tall, the dancer said she has always admired strong women. Her bedroom door in her parents Daytona Beach Shores condo is plastered with photographs of chiseled female Marines as well as Marilyn Monroe. "I like Marilyn Monroe because she's not just a skinny model, she was a real woman," Echevarria said. "I believe that you can be a girly girl, but you can also be tough." Echevarria is following in the footsteps of her grandfather and mother. After immigrating to New York from Bogota, Columbia, her grandfather, Jeorge Medina , enlisted in the U.S. National Guard. "He was always patriotic and instilled that same kind of love for serving this country in us," said Echevarria's mother, Toni Medina-Leitenburg , a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserves. In 2003, Echevarria's mother was deployed to Kuwait, where her unit coordinated transportation for American troops. The mother and daughter were separated for nearly a year. "The best day of my life was when my mom came back," Echevarria said. Echevarria's first passion was dancing. During high school, she choreographed some of her own ballet and modern dance performances at Kinetic Expressions Dance Academy in South Daytona. "She left here totally muscular, stacked and ready to go," said KEDA owner and instructor Crystal Draper. "She is soft-spoken and sweet but she is also a powerhouse." After graduating from Atlantic High School last year, Echevarria worked as a waitress at Ker's Wing House in Daytona Beach. She had always contemplated joining the U.S. Marines, but didn't make her decision official until last fall. A hip-flexor injury delayed her entry into boot camp for several months. "Dancing and the military aren't as diametrically opposite as you'd think, said Echevarria's stepfather, Elliot Leitenburg . "If someone desires to be the best, most fit dancer, they could also desire to be a Marine because that's the fittest of the fit." Echevarria said she wants to break stereotypes about how others might view women in the military. She acknowledges that she is entering the service at a historical time. Earlier this year, U.S. Department of Defense officials lifted a ban that prevented women from serving in combat roles. Officials are also addressing reports that 26,000 people in the armed forces were sexually assaulted last year. "That never stopped or hindered me from wanting to join," Echevarria said about the reports of sexual assault. "God forbid something like that would happen, but I would have no problem speaking out." About 13,600 women are active duty members of the U.S. Marines and 90 percent of women recruits completed boot camp at Parris Island last year, according to the U.S. Marine Corps' Division of Public Affairs. To prepare for boot camp, Echevarria spends several hours each morning doing strength training exercises, running, and hitting a punching bag. She also works out twice a week with recruitment officers and peers in Daytona Beach. "Women that become U.S. Marines are a select few," said Echevarria's recruitment officer, Staff Sgt. Timothy Cook. "Natalie is tough. If someone trash talks her, her attitude is 'maybe you can do more pull-ups than me but I'll show up in you in other ways.' " During boot camp, Echevarria will be required to learn martial arts, navigate obstacle courses, and understand a new military terminology among other strenuous mental and physical tests. At the end of her training, she will be required to undergo the Crucible, 54 continuous hours of field training that includes a 48-mile march, combat simulations and strength tests with just a few hours of sleep and small rations of food. "I feel like it's important for women to be in the military, and I'm taking a step to better myself as a person," Echevarria said. "I want to prove to myself that I can do it."

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